Oshima-tsumugi

Hand-woven pongee from Amami Oshima, dyed with mud and plant extracts.

Oshima-tsumugi is a silk pongee fabric from Amami-Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, renowned as one of Japan's most exquisite textiles. Its production involves a unique mud-dyeing process using iron-rich Amami mud and local tannin-rich plants, which produces deep, lustrous browns and blacks with remarkable colorfastness. The intricate kasuri (ikat) patterns require extraordinary precision, with some kimono-length fabrics taking over a year to complete.